Thursday, June 14, 2012

Never Surrender

I'm a pretty lucky gal. I'm participating in Elana Johnson's SURRENDER Blogfest that entails writing about a time that you never surrendered. Click HERE to get the deets and see who else is participating (and there is still time to participate, too! Win great prizes, get some Surrender swag, and Elana is awesome so give that lovely author a shout out!).

I thought back on times that I never surrendered, and I first thought, "Dang. I'm pretty lucky. I haven't really been through terribly difficult times. I've had a pretty great life." As I said, I'm a lucky girl. But then I did some more thinking. Yeah, I guess I have had some hard times, but.... I stayed positive. I moved on. I fought on.

Even as a youth, I tried to make good choices. I worked hard in school and sports. I didn't do drugs. I was competitive in everything I did. I do believe that many times luck is the result of hard work plus good timing. But you can't control everything.
As an adult I realize I was faced with hard times (but thankfully more good times) as many of you did. My parents divorced. But I did see that it was best for them and moved on and got over it. I married young and have been with the same man for twenty years - through good times and bad. But we are still together. I've witnessed my child lose a kidney, have multiple convulsions from epilepsy, and watched our children cry and laugh over small and big losses and gains. But I became my children's advocate, researched medical problems, talked with their teachers, stayed ever present in their education and their lives. In these awful economic times, my hubby and my careers have been compromised, we almost moved to another state, lived apart due to a job, but yet we are still hanging on. Times are tough for everyone. But you can't dwell, you just do what you gotta do.

My point in all of this ramble?Stay positive. Don't give up.

When life gives you lemons, throw that lemon in a tall glass of ice water. Honey, you are going to need it, because sometimes you have to work that much harder. Make some pink lemonade cupcakes to celebrate life's little joys. Mix some lemonade with a splash of vodka to deal with a bump in the road. Heck, make an Arnold Palmer, because it tastes so darn good!Do stay positive. Don't give up. Smile more. Frown less.

Congrats to Elana on her second novel, SURRENDER.
And since I love me some tunes. Listen to some Corey Hart. And never surrender.

Attitude is so critical. And going through my own experience, I totally agree that life doesn't always give us great experiences. Sometimes they are not good ones, but we have to deal with them. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Alex - I definitely believe that!!Thank you, Kristi! (hugs back!)Natalie - Agreed. Life is not always going to turn out the way you think; you just have to move on and do the best you can! :)EJ- Sing it, brothah!Shelley- I do love that song, and thanks to Elana, it's in my playlist now! :)

Excellent, Kelly. Isn't it odd how when you are living through your hard times, it's the people around you who see you as strong and brave. But for you, for me, for anyone going through something hard, it's not about strength and bravery so much as simply going on living, because, that's what we, as humans, do best. We live.

Lee- A positive attitude helps!Lauren - I like that. Focus UP!Anita - I can't believe I hadn't seen a Surrender post with the video yet! I had to!Barbara - He's a nice blast from the past!Bish - I agree. Just keep livin.Thank you, Douglas!Elana - You are welcome!!Jemi - I may have to wear my sunglasses at night tonight. ;)

Kudos to you! I love the part about being your child's advocate. I think that's even harder than dealing with our own stuff because you can feel so helpless. If you can stay positive, you can go so far! Here's to never surrendering, even though I really don't like that song--LOL! :D xoxo